A new campaign — CoyoteSmarts — is being launched to better inform Rhode Islanders how to coexist with the canine predators.
Why teach people about coyotes?
“They’re here to stay,” says Christie Smith, one of the campaign organizers.
Coyotes first returned to the state in the 1960s, but it wasn’t until the past 10 to 20 years that their numbers grew to levels that began to concern the public. Since then, they are commonly seen and heard and pet disappearances have been blamed on them.
To inform the public how best to manage the population, several environmental and wildlife groups have partnered to create a website (
www.coyotesmarts.com) and to give talks to school and community groups.
The initiative will begin by focusing on Aquidneck Island, where coyotes have been more prevalent. Their arrival inspired the start of The Narragansett Bay Coyote Study, which since 2004 has been monitoring the movement and locations of coyotes to better understand their breeding and feeding behaviors.
The information led Newport, Middletown and Portsmouth to enact “no-feeding” ordinances to address what the study identified as a serious problem.
“We have to ensure there’s no easy pickings for them,” said Smith, including leaving pet food bowls outdoors or intentionally putting food out for the wild animals. “You have to make your property not friendly for them.”
Smith serves as executive director of Middletown’s Potter League for Animals, which has taken a lead role in coyote awareness as the island’s largest shelter for cats and dogs.
The league has teamed up to create CoyoteSmarts with the Rhode Island Natural History Survey, the Aquidneck Land Trust, the Norman Bird Sanctuary and The Conservation Agency (which runs the Narragansett Bay Coyote Study).
Smith said there has been no notable uptick in coyote problems — nor any attacks on humans — but the groups were able to land grant money to better inform the public how to deal with a predator that has clearly settled here for good.
The money for CoyoteSmarts comes from the Prince Charitable Trusts and the Rhode Island Foundation.
“What we hope to achieve is a two-pronged approach, applied uniformly throughout the island, that includes non-lethal methods for controlling coyote populations, combined with lethal means as needed to deal with problem individuals,” Smith said. “We believe it is possible for coyotes and people to coexist, but only in the context of an informed citizenry, sound public policy, and the ability and willingness to share information.”
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